METHWITCH - INDWELL (review)

Written by: Izzy

Much like the band in question, Methwitch, I will not waste any time beating around the bush. Rather, I'll just throw you immediately into this torrential review, spanning not only the album in question, but also providing a look into the bands previous efforts too, as I felt unable to discuss this album properly in depth without sharing my own short story that goes alongside my initial listen of this album.

Methwitch is a one-man deathcore band led by Mr. Cameron McBride, a guy who’s been around for quite a while and played in a number of different bands I haven’t heard of. However, this latest offering from Methwitch has a especially flavourful addition that caught my attention far more than your run-of-the-mill deathcore group. INDWELL is a noisy, chaotic, and industrial album, but in contrast also has some melodic moments strewn throughout as well. Calling it mathcore would absolutely not be a stretch, many moments bringing to mind bands like Frontierer, Car Bomb, or even The Dillinger Escape Plan (which to even be compared to them is high praise in my book).

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​Listening to this album, I found so much intriguing and exciting material, but by the end I always found myself wanting more: killer riffs, excellent production, interesting song dynamics that keep the album from getting stale. The vision is there but it lacks something else in construction, it comes so close to being something amazing. A lot of passion and talent was poured into this and yet it feels like there’s a piece missing. I could relisten to it over and over, because it’s certainly a great album don’t get me wrong, but its replayability also comes from a desire to like this band more than I already do, because I feel like they’re deserving of it.

So, I did a dive into Methwitch’s discography, listening to the rest of their projects the day after (to be fair, “the rest” only meant two albums and an EP), because INDWELL left me with a craving I desperately wanted to satiate.

Their previous albums are much more by-the-numbers as far as deathcore goes, which is not necessarily bad. I enjoy bands that play no frills deathcore, and each of their albums has evolved in a unique way that makes it stand out amongst the others, which is a pleasant sight amongst a genre that many, including myself, notice has a bad habit of stagnating. Their 2017 sophomore Piss was an hour long onslaught of superb deathcore, and their 2015 debut Rotting Away was a short 'n' sweet crash course in old school DxC. Again, both were good, but each time I was left with that same feeling of longing. It was like deja vu; every album was thoroughly enjoyable, but didn’t reach that pinnacle I constantly hoped for, it never managed to finish walking the path to greatness.
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Don’t be deterred, because I still think this is a highlight of the year and those who are already fans of deathcore and the like will surely enjoy this album, and I myself will probably be relistening to this album throughout the year, as this is a unique experience with a band I likely won’t forget anytime soon, and maybe something I missed will click and it’ll go from a quite good album to a 2020 favourite.

Methwitch has unquestionably gotten better with every new release, but in the end none of the albums managed to scratch that itch started by INDWELL, it felt like a masterpiece was dangled in front of me, just out of reach, and I was left to grasp at it in futility. For better or for worse, I am absolutely a Methwitch fan for life now, and I will support this band to my dying breath in the hopes that one day all the pieces fit together and a masterpiece is created.

Methwitch - INDWELL was independently released April 3rd 

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Methwitch can be found:
Bandcamp
Facebook